$23.16

made by Elizabeth Skadden. (aka “LA is OK”, 2006, 8 minutes)Must encapsulate how great the west coast is.

Elizabeth was director Bradley Beesley’s assistant on the documentary film The Fearless Freaks Featuring the Flaming Lips and their science fiction film, Christmas on Mars. Her own work includes short documentaries about the Judys, the best band nobody has ever heard of, and personal documentaries about people she is close to. Her films have screened in festivals including SXSW and the Edinburgh Film Festival. She has had a multitude of random jobs including organizing a hand-fishing contest, operating camera for a television studio during the 2000 election, and housekeeping for Patrick Swayze’s aunt. Elizabeth shoots a lot of super 8 and works a minimum of two jobs at all times. An Austin native, she survived all eight years of Reaganomics because she was in her infancy.

I buy a filmmaker lunch and in trade they give me a short film made for the cost of the lunch. It started by accident – and necessity. In all, 50 short films have been commissioned (or eaten). Rules and ideas based on whatever we talked about at lunch are written on a napkin contract.
While each film has its own logic, it’s all about a variety of tastes. The overall metaphor is about community. It is very easy to help a filmmaker. Buy one lunch today. –Mike Plante